Hope Blooms in the Spring
by cecemellark
Summary: "This is my second to last reaping. I am safe. I have avoided the Hunger Games so far," I repeat to myself. Though I am really safe? Am I really free? Will I ever be free from suffering under the Capitol? Gale says I won't be. "This is my second to last reaping though," I repeat again. But this isn't Prim's. She isn't safe. - Hunger Games AU Where Katniss and Peeta aren't reaped
1. The Reaping

Chapter 1

Katniss thought about the reaping. It was her second to last one, although it really wasn't. Her sister Prim still had four reapings left, but at least she was almost done. The sweltering heat during the ceremony didn't help with her thoughts either. The longer it went on, and the more children being herded together made her nervous.

She looked at her sister standing nearby with her friends. It reminded of her the conversation the two had earlier that day. Prim had just had a nightmare, and she was there to comfort her in the early hours of the day.

"_What's wrong, Little Duck," she asked. Prim replied, "I had a nightmare that I'd be reaped and that I'd die in the arena." "I wouldn't let that happen to you," she said. "Your name's only been in there once, and I've taken out more tesserae than you have. Trust me, you won't be picked." Feeling reassured, she was able to rest for another hour or two before they had to arrive in the Town Square for the mandatory Reaping ceremony._

Katniss knew that there was some truth in that statement, but she couldn't guarantee nothing would happen to her. Just as she finished her thought, Effie Trinket appeared on stage. Without any formal introduction, Effie Trinket uttered with much enthusiasm and her Capitol accent, "Ladies first!" It was in this moment, Katniss' heart began palpitating. _Please don't call on Primrose Everdeen. Please don't call on me. Please don't call on Vick, Rory, or Posy_, she thought. And while thinking these thoughts, Effie Trinket called out, "Elizabeth Darby!" A young, blonde-haired and blue-eyed girl, similar to Prim, walked up on stage in tears, unable to keep her composure. Katniss normally would've felt bad for the girl, and would've been shocked by the similarity she shared with Prim. But she lacked any sympathy in the moment because she immediately thought:

_ She didn't pick Prim. She's safe for another year. I'm safe. At least until winter comes_, Katniss thought. Except, she didn't fully have to time complete this thought because she still had the boys to worry about. Gale, luckily, was already eighteen. Which was beyond the reaping age. So he was safe. But his younger siblings Vick and Rory weren't. As Katniss prayed for their safety and hoped the odds were in their favor, her eyes caught someone she hadn't thought about for awhile.

Peeta Mellark. She hadn't heard that name for quite a bit of time. How could she forget about someone so influential and important to her life, especially on a day like this? In her current haze of the Reaping, Katniss so carelessly forgot that he was of age just like she was. _How could I forget_, she pondered. Peeta Mellark was a Merchant, a Townie others would say. But to Katniss, he was so much more than that. Though she had only encountered him once, he changed the course of her life.

"_Mom, you can't leave me. You can't leave Prim," she pleaded. Her mother, catatonic, did not respond. As she and Prim were slowly starving, and as her mother was slowly fading away after the death of their father, Katniss knew something had to be done. Even after selling the majority of their possessions to those at the Hob, there was still not enough money to keep the family going. And Katniss, being eleven and ineligible to sign up for tesserae, meant that she had to resort to desperate measures in order to survive. _

_With that being said, she conjured up the courage to go to the Town and attempt to sell some of Prim's old baby clothes. It was raining and Katniss had no potential buyers. Giving up and using the last bit of energy she had, she sat down at the base of a large apple tree by Mellark's Bakery. While sitting there, underneath what should've been a scenic and beautiful sight, Katniss awaited death. It seemed nice and quite welcoming._

_Just as she began to close her eyes, she heard commotion coming from the back of the bakery. And suddenly, as if in a dream, a blonde-haired boy appeared from the back door bearing burnt raisin-not loaves. He ripped apart the most burnt pieces and tossed them to the pigs in the nearby pen. Then, without a single glance, he tossed the majority of the loaf in her direction._

_As he walked back to the bakery, Katniss sat there in shock and wondered if he had really meant to give her that loaf. And when she looked at the bread and back towards his direction, he was gone and it seemed as if he never really appeared._

From that moment on, though Katniss didn't like to admit it, she had been forever changed. After she grabbed that raisin-nut loaf, her whole perspective had shifted. The next day at school, she meant to thank him for saving her family's life. And when their eyes met, she noticed a large bruise on his right cheek. At the same time, however, they both looked away. When she did, she noticed dandelions on the ground and remembered something. _Dandelions are a source of food, and can be used to make a dandelion weed salad that would pair perfectly with the raisin-nut bread_, she remembered from her father.

Going home that day with a newfound perspective of life, Katniss realized that he not only gave her food to go on, but also gave her hope. Hope that life can go on. From that moment on, Katniss realized that she was going to keep her eye on the Boy with the Bread.


	2. The Reaping Pt 2

Chapter 2

From that fateful day when she was eleven and practically dead, Katniss Everdeen had kept her word. She watched the Boy with the Bread like a hawk, even sometimes not realizing it. She would hunt with Gale, return the spoils past the District fence, and see him working in the bakery. If some wrestling event occurred at school, she knew he'd be there. If he was missing from school, she knew his mother had hurt him, like the day he gave her the bread. The witch that is Mrs. Mellark caused that bruise and other countless injuries within the Mellark household. These miniscule details that she remembered only emphasized the fact that she had been keeping tabs on him for almost seven years.

So, meeting his eyes on Reaping Day like shouldn't have come as much of a surprise to Katniss, but it did. There was something in that split moment that was so similar to the one they shared years ago.

_After school...when their eyes met, she noticed a large bruise on his right cheek. At the same time, however, they both looked away. When she did, she noticed dandelions on the ground… those dandelions meant so much to her, even though he had no clue whatsoever. They forever reminded her of him. How could she forget? He saved her life for God's sake. Without that bread, she and Prim would've been dead ages ago. His bread gave her hope and a will to life once more._

So, when their eyes met again, she saw something deeper in there. Something deeper than when they looked at each other beforehand. Katniss couldn't quite pin it. _Was it a look of pity or longing_, she pondered.

However, before she could put much thought into it, Effie Trinket blurted out," Daniel Erickson!" The second Katniss looked towards the stage she saw a boy. Who was very much like Gale and herself. Tall, olive-skinned, and lean. Not only did she notice that he was Seam, she noticed that though he looked rugged and strong, he stood absolutely no chance in the arena. The same went for the District's girl, whatever her name was.

District Twelve, out of all the others throughout Panem, had the worst odds. As Katniss had previously learned in her school-mandated curriculum, the Capitol controlled the Twelve Districts. Of these twelve districts, 12 was the poorest and least useful of them all. District 12 powered and fueled the Capitol's coal supply, which meant that its citizens only learned how to mine coal and learned no other traits useful to the Games. Districts like 1, 2, and 4, are known as the Career Districts and have useful skills. But people in 12 are screwed, these new tributes included.

Though this was the ugly truth, Katniss tried to avoid thinking about it. Everyone she loved and cared for was safe for one more year, at least until winter. So, once the young Merchant girl and Seam boy were gathered up quickly into the train car en route to the Capitol, the citizens of District 12, roughly 8,000 in total, began to disperse immediately.

Later on, as an attempt to celebrate, Katniss went by the Hawthorne's house and took Gale for a walk. Taking a walk usually entailed the pair going beyond the District's fences and hunting game illegally. And like any other day, the two did so. However, after a moment of silence, in an attempt to keep the conversation going, Katniss decided to bring up the most recent Reaping.

"Did you know Daniel Erikson, Gale," she asked.

"As a matter of fact I did…_do. Did_. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. The Reaping's just got me thinking about everything. Prim and Rory and Vick. All of them."

"What about them, _Catnip_?"

_Ugh, that nickname_, she thought to herself. Of course the first time she officially met him was in the woods when they accidentally bumped into each other. Her natural instinct was to shoot him, but the lost look in his (similar to hers at the time) prompted her to do otherwise. Instead, she said, "_Hi. I'm Katniss. Katniss Everdeen." _He misheard obviously and said, "_Hi, Catnip Everdeen. I'm Gale. Gale Hawthorne." _From there, they learned more about each other.

They both lost their fathers during the mine explosion that occurred the year before. They both had siblings, and were the oldest. They slowly began to develop a friendship, and along with that friendship came the perfect hunting scenario. He taught her how to set up snares and taught her about tracking animals. And she, in turn, taught him how to shoot with a bow and arrows. After six, almost seven years, the two seemed inseparable, and the nickname stuck.

"Ugh. Gale, I'm being serious. I'm worried about this upcoming winter. The elders at the Hob the other day predicted that it's going to be one of the worst we've had in decades."

"Katniss, you can't believe everything those old dust bags say. You made it through the Reaping, and we'll make it through the year. I guarantee you. We've done it before and we can do it again."

"I get what you're saying, Gale. I just can't help but worry that things are going to go downhill from here."

"Y'know what? Let's worry about that another day," Gale said as he got up. "For now, we've got to celebrate you and the kids being free for another year! We can trade in some of this turkey and the strawberries we picked at the Hob. And I'll even get you Mellark's cheese buns! On me!"

Katniss smiled, set aside her fears for the worst, and took up Gale's offer for the cheese buns, though she did force him to allow her to pay half. Plus, Katniss Everdeen wasn't one to accept handouts, and she definitely did not want to feel as if she owed someone. She's already been through that once before.

AN: This is my first author's note! I hope the first two chapters were everything you thought they'd be! This is my first fanfic, especially my first real everlark fanfic. And I want to get it right. I currently do not have a beta. So, please let me know if there are any mistakes. This fanfic has everlark being endgame written all over it, even though Gale and Katniss only have interacted so far.

It will be a bumpy road for everlark, however. So don't expect it to happen willy nilly. The next chapter should be up within 1-2 days and it should stay that way for awhile. Anyway, sorry for the rant! Likes, favorites, and reviews are always appreciated! – Cece xoxo


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